BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Members of Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative are represented by the Board of Directors. Board members in each district are tasked with advocating for their constituency and deciding the strategic initiatives undertaken by the cooperative.
Jerome Sasala has resided in the area since 1969, when he was hired as a music teacher by the Cameron County School District. He moved to Potter County after purchasing a farm near Austin in 1982.
Sasala has worked in education as an elementary and secondary teacher, assistant principal, elementary and secondary principal and, for the past several years, served as the superintendent of the Austin Area School District. In addition, he has worked as a carpenter, home builder, plumber and residential electrician.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in education and a Master of Arts from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He obtained a master’s degree in administration from St. Bonaventure University.
He and his wife, Judy, reside on their working beef farm and are the parents of two grown children.
District 1 includes Homer, Keating, Portage, Summit, Sylvania and Wharton in Potter County; Grove and Lumber in Cameron County; Liberty and Norwich in McKean County.
Valery J. Robbins is a resident of Potter County’s Allegany township. She and her husband, Chris, operate a fourth-generation family farm in the Ulysses area producing Pennsylvania Certified seed potatoes and seed oats along with table and processing potatoes and hay. They have one grown son, a daughter-in-law, and three beautiful granddaughters.
Valery was elected Chairman of the board in July 2024.
Prior to joining the family farm, Valery graduated from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford with a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations. She spent a significant amount of time employed in the telecommunications industry, serving in a corporate management capacity in customer care with Adelphia and also as a business analyst with Level 3 Communications.
She is a member of the Coudersport Alliance Church and enjoys volunteering with their children’s ministries. Valery is also a current member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and past member of the Coudersport Alliance Daycare and Learning Center’s board of directors.
District 2 serves members in the Potter County townships of Allegany, Clara, Coudersport Borough, Eulalia, Galeton Borough, Hebron, Hector, Pike, Pleasant Valley, Roulette, Sweden, Ulysses, and Ulysses Borough.
District 3 serves members in Bingham, Genesee, Harrison, Oswayo and Sharon townships in Potter County; Brookfield and Westfield townships in Tioga County; and Ceres Township in McKean County.
James R. Davis of Farmington Township represents District 4 on the Tri-County board of directors.
Davis also serves on the boards of directors of Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Tri-County's wholesale power supplier. He has also served on the board of directors of National Cooperative Services Corporation, a national cooperative banking operation.
A managing partner of James Daniel Associates, an educational consulting firm, Davis is retired from the Northern Tioga School District, where he was assistant superintendent. During his career as a professional educator, Davis served as a mathematics teacher, coach, counselor, principal and college professor. He serves as Farmington Township auditor and is a member of the River Valley Country Club board of directors.
Davis and his wife, Elaine, reside in Farmington Township. They have three grown sons.
District 4 includes Chatham, Deerfield, Elkland, Farmington, Middlebury, Nelson, Osceola, Shippen, Clymer, and Gaines townships in Tioga County.
Matthew S. Whiting, P.E., of Lawrence Township, was elected to represent District 5 on the Tri-County board of directors during the cooperative’s 2014 Annual Meeting and has served as director since that time.
During his tenure on the board, Mr. Whiting was instrumental in the decision to add FTTH (fiber to the home) service through the Tri-Co Connections subsidiary. This was a very large project for a small cooperative to undertake, but has been completed successfully. This state-of-the-art communication service is already yielding tremendous benefit to our members in both quality-of-life improvement and in economic opportunity. In addition, the service is bringing benefit to our community at large.
It is important to take care of the present, but also to always be looking to the future needs of the cooperative and its members. In that regard, if re-elected, in addition to continuing to oversee the FTTH system, I will support long-term financial and rate stability through reduction in long-term debt and will work to ensure the dramatic increase in electric generation required to support economic growth does not adversely impact cooperative members. This is one of the biggest challenges facing electricity providers today and in the foreseeable future.
Matt is a licensed professional engineer in PA and NY and retired in 2015 from Corning Incorporated after a 32-year career, which included senior leadership roles in research and development, software, electrical and systems engineering, and project management.
A native of Wellsboro, Mr. Whiting graduated from Williamson High School and holds bachelor’s degrees from Mansfield University and Alfred University, and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Norwich University.
Mr. Whiting is a deacon and treasurer of the East Lawrence Baptist Church and has been a member of Tri-County since 2000. Matt and his wife, Linda, have three children, April Parker, Sarah Whiting and Jason Whiting.
District 5 serves members in Wells Township in Bradford County, and Jackson, Lawrence, Richmond, Rutland and Tioga Townships in Tioga County.
Alfred G. Calkins of East Troy is seeking re-election as District 6 director.
Calkins is a retired dairy farmer and served on the executive committee of the Pennsylvania Holstein Association. He has been involved with the Troy Trojans Booster Club, served as a director with the Bradford County Holstein Club and is a life member of the Troy Rod and Gun Club.
Calkins serves as past President of the Tri-County board of directors and is the past President of the C&T Enterprises board of directors. He is also Vice-President of Wellsboro Electric Co. board of directors. Currently serving on the Pennsylvania Rural Electric board in Harrisburg.
Al and wife Sharon have two married sons, Ryan (Jodi) and Randy (Teashia) and four grandchildren.
Calkins enjoys hunting and fishing with the grandkids.
District 6 serves members in the Bradford County townships of Armenia, Columbia, Granville, Springfield, Troy, and West Burlington, and Tioga County townships of Sullivan and Ward.
Janet M. Teeter, was elected to represents District 7 on the Tri-County Board of Directors at the July 2021 annual meeting.
Teeter graduated with an associate degree in accounting from Elmira Business Institute in 1982. In 2012, she also earned the ACH Accredited Professional Certification. Additionally she was a Pennsylvania Notary from 1996-2000 and re-established this position in 2018 and remains current in this role.
Teeter is a mortgage loan officer with the Ingersoll-Rand Federal Credit Union. She has been involved in the banking business for 20 years, starting as a teller and working up to the role of deposit operations supervisor and online banking specialist. Additionally she worked as a production accountant and accounts payable specialist for Leprino Foods for 17 years.
Janet and her husband, Alston, reside in Smithfield Township, and have been members of Tri-County REC since 2017. They have two daughters; Katrina and Stephanie.
Janet enjoys being part of the Encounter Church and working the election polls in Smithfield Township. She also enjoys quilting, crafting and spending time with family.
District 7 serves members in Athens, Ridgebury, Smithfield, South Creek and Ulster townships in Bradford County.
Gerald A. (Arnie) Kriner of Liberty Township, Tioga County, was first elected to the Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative (REC) Board of Directors in 2016 and served as Chairman of the board from July 2020 to July 2024.
Kriner retired from the Pennsylvania State Senate in 2021, after serving as a senior staffer for two State Senators.
A member of Tri-County REC since 1996, Kriner previously served as the chairman of Tri-County REC’s Elections and Credentials Committee and served on the co-op’s member Advisory Committee.
In addition to his service on the Tri-County REC Board, he also serves as a director on the boards C&T Enterprises, Inc., Valley Energy, and UPMC Wellsboro.
Kriner attends Nauvoo Christian Fellowship. He and his wife, Lianne, have one adult daughter, a son-in-law, and two grandchildren.
District 8 serves members in the Lycoming County townships of Brown, Cogan House, Cummings, Jackson, Lewis, McHenry, McIntyre, and Pine, as well as members in the Tioga County townships of Liberty, Liberty Borough, Morris, and Union.
Lowell W. Geiser of Germania was appointed to the Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative Board of Directors in 2007. He served as the cooperative’s chairman of the board from 2012-2016.
A lifelong resident of Potter County, Geiser and his wife, Virginia, own and operate Forest View Evergreen Tree Farms, a business started by Lowell’s grandfather in 1925 on the family’s Century Farm, located in Germania and established in 1887.
A graduate of Galeton Area High School, Geiser was a volunteer with the Germania Fire Co. as a fireman/EMT and served as an Abbott Township supervisor in past years. Geiser is a member of the First Baptist Church of Galeton. He has been a member of Tri-County Rural Electric since 1985.
Since becoming a Director, he has completed all three levels of National Rural Electric Cooperative Association leadership training courses that focus on, among other things, cooperative electric distribution and broadband implementation. These courses help directors in their governance and oversight duties. He participates in continuing education courses as they become available on both state and national levels. I consider it an honor and privilege to serve as your Director in District 9 of a Cooperative, where consideration of member/owner’s takes a priority in our decisions. I would appreciate your continued support.
District 9 serves members in Abbott, Stewardson and West Branch townships in Potter County; East Keating and Leidy townships in Clinton County; and Elk Township in Tioga County.
